Eastfields Regeneration

We have been appointed with Levitt Bernstein and Proctor Matthews to explore options for the regeneration of Eastfields estate in the London Borough of Merton.

Circle Housing Merton Priory selected teams of architects to support the proposed regeneration of three areas in the Borough. They have been consulting residents since last summer about the possible demolition and redevelopment of over 1,200 homes. Proposals for this major regeneration scheme include the provision of new homes, public open space and community facilities.

Our team, led by Levitt Bernstein Associates, will work with local residents throughout the year to create an outline masterplan for a new neighbourhood for Eastfields in Mitcham.

Barry McCullough at Levitt Bernstein said: "Despite being close to the Academy and some well-loved leisure facilities, the Eastfields neighbourhood doesn't feel linked to its surroundings. We want to work with residents and the Circle Housing Merton Priory team to connect it with the local area by creating an attractive layout including safe streets and open spaces that are used by all at all hours of the day."

The design work begins in May and will include a series of exhibitions, workshops, site visits and public events through the year.

UK Shelter Forum Pecha Kucha 2014

"Ready? Ok, GO!"

And off I went, trying not to stumble over my words for the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds while I spoke about my work in Haiti over the last 4 years. The crowd was a warm but intimidating mix of PHD candidates, masters students and shelter professionals. It was over before I knew it, it seemed to go well enough, people understood what I said and maybe even agreed with some of it. I managed to navigate the 20 slides without too many hiccups - aside from being handed a very squeaky microphone early on - and I even got a couple of laughs! It was about time for a beer.

 

A few moments earlier the organiser of the UK Shelter Forum Pecha Kucha had plucked my name at random from a hat. I was the first of 10 speakers presenting a wide range of research and findings. Subjects ranged from archaeology in the Antilles to retrofitting in Peru and the Philippines.

The shelter forum is an annual event which brings together various researchers, educational institutions, NGOs, professionals and government bodies who are involved shelter and settlement reconstruction after disasters. The Pecha Kucha, which is held the evening before the main event, is where researchers, recent graduates and people working in the field are selected to present. The list of presenters and their subjects were as follows:

 

- Avery Doninger, Oxford Brookes University - ‘Transition to What?’Evaluating the transitional shelter process in Leogane, Haiti

- Pedro Clarke, Oxford Brookes University - Learning from Disasters: Lisbon 1755

- Aditya Aachi, Architectural Association - Haiti - Simbi Hubs, IDP camps and Bamboo

- Vicente Sandoval, UCL - Questioning disaster risk and reconstruction: A multi-scalar inquiry

- Martin Dolan, Oxford Brookes University - How was the 'social urbanism' of Medellin made possible?

- Ryan Sommerville, University of Westminster - Preparing for post-disaster recovery: Open Data, Community and Built Environment Professionals

- Julia Hansen, UCL - Capabilities in post-disaster housing

- Josh Macabuag, UCL - Seismic Retrofitting in Rural Communities

- Kate Crawford, UCL and Alice Samson, Cambridge University - Dialogue between archaeology and humanitarian shelter: resilience in pre-Columbian house-building and repair

- Elizabeth Wagemann, Cambridge University - Implementing academic research: a pathway for impact

- Ana Gatoo, Cambridge University - The Philippines Sheltering Response: three months after typhoon Haiyan

 

Joseph Ashmore, who was the informal host for the night rounded up by saying that he was very impressed with both the content and visual standard of presentations and I have to say I agree. It was particularly good to see that presenters hadn't shied away from showing what they had found when probing deeper into certain situations. Martin Dolan's presentation showed some of the darker aspects of positive interventions which were a result of the regeneration of Medellin, Colombia - though all we see in the media are the success stories and glossy images.

 

Though these events are primarily a platform for students to discuss their research in public, they can be an important tool to hold a mirror up to the sector and open up the discussion on how to improve in the future.  After all these interventions can be a direct challenge to the sovereignty of the states in which they are implemented and hence there is a responsibility to make sure they are the best they can be.

 

The event overall was both mentally stimulating and enjoyable. I look forward to it becoming an annual booking in my diary. A big thanks to Victoria Maynard and Bernadette Devilat who organised the event.  Videos and posters from the evening will be posted here once they become available.

 

A day in Prague

Having never been in the Czech Republic, I just had to spend a day in Prague on my way to give two talks in Olomouc, a day of contrasting delights.  I had asked for some guidance from the director of the programme I was teaching on; so having arrived mid-morning, I left my luggage in the hotel and set off by tram for the House of the Black Madonna armed with Veronika Klusakova’s list of other recommendations. 

Although the Czech Cubist collection has been moved to the museum, the building (Josef Gočár 1911-12) is formidably Kubist and upstairs in 2005 they recreated the splendid Grand Café Orient. A beer and sandwich in this atmospheric interior was just what I needed but what was that smell – the cigarette smoke sort of belonged there, despite the EU!

Then off to the Zizkov TV tower (Václav Oulický 1985-1992); surely the Czech communists didn’t actually build a piece of Archigram?  It manages to be both modern high-tech and so old-fashioned at the same time. Not only is it still open but it has a posh restaurant and bar and a one-bedroom hotel, all with great views.  Being mid-afternoon on a weekday there were only a couple of visitors and I didn’t fancy a drink but I understand it is extremely popular.

The next day it was off to Olomouc on the Leo Express; with the help of Google translate I had been able to buy my ticket online in London for what was a breeze – 157 miles non-stop in 133 minutes, in clean comfort with refreshments and  an airline type screen telling us where we were, all for £6.00 – get that HSII!  The interesting thing is that the National Railways are challenged by Leo and one other private company using the same tracks!